The official website for Final Fantasy XIV has received a major update. The site has been updated with a slew of new information on the jobs, races, storyline, and even some of the more specific features to be available in the game.

One example of this is Guildleves. Guildleves are selected by players to fine-tune their experience towards the make-up of their group. When players take on a quest, they can select from one of several available Guildleves which will determine both the risk and rewards commensurate with that risk.

This should allow parties to seek challenges that fit the playstyle or skill-level that best suits them. From the sounds of it, it doesn't seem like selecting a harder Guildleve just means the mobs will be harder, but instead the specific tasks of the quest will be more risky. They give the example of using a Guildleve to gain access to a normally restricted area to tackle a quest. I imagine going this route will be much riskier than approaching it a different way, of course, the resulting reward will match.

The site has also been updated with information on one of the game's city-states, Limsa Lominsa, and while two other states are available, their pages currently tease us with the all too familiar "Coming Soon".

Information on the game's story and all currently announced races are also available. Matching what we've seen in recent coverage, the available races unfortunately do not stray too far from what players are used to already. Taru taru are Lalafell, Humans are Hyur, Elvaan are Elezen, etc.

Also revealed is the method by which players will switch jobs. As we suspected from the recent Famitsu video interview, players simply switch weapons or tools to access their different skillsets. You will not need to visit a Moogle to switch jobs. Want to be a gladiator? Pick up your sword! Just can't hack it (I know, I know) as a gladiator? Pick up your trusty mage staff and get back to those fireballs you know so well.

It also appears that travel in Final Fantasy XIV will be done mainly through teleportation. It seems unlikely that lengthy travel times will be returning from FFXI. Instead, players will utilize "Aetheryte" crystals which allow them to travel to pre-determined and far away locations.

UPDATE: Square Enix has also provided us with six new screenshots of Final Fantasy XIV. Check them out here!

For more information, check out the official website here.

Originally posted by Baggs

MikeB, the last link is broken, you typed an extra period after "www" .

 Also, all the info are available at the japanese site, not the english ones.(yet?)

On topic : WHOAH.

I screw up links way too much! Thanks. As for the site, the english site worked fine for me. Did you try http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com ?

Just came from the NA version of the site and worked just fine.

 NA and JP sites are updated, EU wasn't the last time I checked so EU community might have to view one of the other ones.

But yeah FFXIV = awesome. If that screen caption posted in the thread is a in-game shot which it kind of looks like to me then...wow...just wow, no game is touching it graphic wise.

This game ain't gonna run on my computer for sure... Beautiful screens

WOW all I can say is WOW. This info made my week, i am really hyped up now. Thanks for info

this is really hyping me up, I just can't wait to get my hands on this game!

I really hopped they would have new races though, but oh well, I like the old races as well (+the name changes)

"This game ain't gonna run on my computer for sure... Beautiful screens"

I dont' know what your system is, but it needs to run on a PS3, which, correct me if I'm wrong, isn't loaded up with crazy specs. So yoou shouldn't have to upgrade that much.

WOW... well I can say I'll be giving this game a serious try after seeing these.  I'll be buying it on the pc but... and I wouldn't have beleaved I'd say this when ffxi came out.. thank goodness for the focus of this game being for the ps3 and not the lowest common denominator pc.  With Aion and this I think the future of mmos are bright.

First time in awhile I have seen a world that looked as good as LOTRO

Originally posted by fylgia

"This game ain't gonna run on my computer for sure... Beautiful screens"

I dont' know what your system is, but it needs to run on a PS3, which, correct me if I'm wrong, isn't loaded up with crazy specs. So yoou shouldn't have to upgrade that much.

You ARE wrong. The PS3 does not have crazy graphics cards, true, but the prcoessor is the best you get. It's a cell processor. That means it is utterly rediculous. I don't know the specs exactly because most of the articles I've read have been very vague on it, but I know that it can run at over 4.00GHz with a bunch of different processors inside fo it. Basically the processor does all the work adn the graphics cards do back-up. killzone 2 uses pretty much only the processor.

On that note, i played FFXI on the PS2 for ages before we jumped to the PC version. With the right interface, its an awesome experience. I used something called a netplay controller back then,, created by logitech. It is basically a  ps2 joystick built around a laptop keyboard.

www.amazon.com/Logitech-NetPlay-Controller-Sony-Playstation/dp/B00006SKJ4

I liked it so much so, that when i tried playing the game on PC, i MISSED the PS2 controller. I bought an adapter to let me use the netplay controller on the PC and bang, i was money.

That said, i don't think that controller will work on the PS3, but I seriously hope they re-release something very much like it. Having to completely seperate controllers is awkward to me, particularly when you are not at a desk.

Moral of hte story: Playing the game on a console is a great experience, if you can find an interface that works for you. Something to bear in mind if you find yourself considering new technology for this game. Use the price for a PS3 as a benchmark and see if you can get a PC to handle this game for less.

UPDATE: lol morbib curiousity had me hook up the netplay controller to the PS3 using the same atapter that lets you hook a PS2 controller to a PC (they're like 5 bucks on e-bay). BINGO it works, the controll AND the keyboard! Personally I hate the small attachment keyboards that go with a PS3 controller.

If you have to play this game on a PS3, i highly recommend this device as an interface!

The races make me cringe (mostly the Dumbo-elf ears on the Elezen and Lalafell), but these landscapes are perfect. They're eyegasmic.

*hugs HD projector, molests PS3*

Are they..is this..is this a sandbox?

Looks like EQ 2.5

Its a good thing the new 24 incher I bought has an HDMI input, though now I'm going to have to buy a pair of speakers since it doesn't have built-in ones, or I can just (hopefully) play in on my PC at max settings. Though it has been said that if you order for one or the other you can play on both, assuming you bought the PS3 version and got the disk, it would most likely take ages to download a game of this calibur.

However, reading through all the pages on the updated website fills me with hope, a vision of versatility and long hours spent with friends on epic adventures (that actually will seem epic).

I'm really excited for this game and I'm looking forward to trying it hopefully maybe at the end of this year in beta, or next year in release :).

Originally posted by spankybus

UPDATE: lol morbib curiousity had me hook up the netplay controller to the PS3 using the same atapter that lets you hook a PS2 controller to a PC (they're like 5 bucks on e-bay). BINGO it works, the controll AND the keyboard! Personally I hate the small attachment keyboards that go with a PS3 controller.

 

If you have to play this game on a PS3, i highly recommend this device as an interface!

Logitech sells full sized PS3 keyboards for $20+, granted there is no mouse.

The $80 version comes buit in with a touch pad though.

Man it looks amazing.  Areas in screenshots remind me of konshtat highlands and meriphataud mountains.

Interesting on the teleporting and the negative effects also.  I can't wait to see what they have in store.

Wow great looking screenies, to bad it's wasted on a horrible story called final fantasy.

Originally posted by Cyborg99

Wow great looking screenies, to bad it's wasted on a horrible story called final fantasy.

Yes because final fantasy is a story...